Armor for vehicles.



J.-E. MAKRENOS.

ARMOR FOR VEHI CLES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, 1917.

Q9 ATTORNEY INVENTOR whmzuzam Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEETI J. E. MAKRENOS.

ARMOR FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, 19!].

1 ,273 ,5 1 5 Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR fiknEMm ATTORNEY SATES JOHN E. MAKRENOS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

ARMOR FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented July 23, 1918.

Application filed October 24, 1917. Serial No. 198,804.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN E. MAKRENOS, a subject of the King of Greece, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, hai e invented certain new and useful Improvements in Armor for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This, invention relates to armor for vehicles, and has special reference to an armored car or vehicle that may be used for army purposes, for instance, as an ambulance, transport car or fightingunit, although the armor involved in this invention may be used as a shield or protector for other purposes.

My invention aimsto provide an armor consisting of a fixed wall and an outer yieldable wall with cushioning members or elements between the Walls to support the outer wall relative to the inner wall and at the same time permit of said outer Wall yielding when struck with a projectile, to such an extent that the force of the projectile is spent and rebounds by the recoil of the outer wall. Such an armor can be advantageously used as an inclosure for a motor vehicle employed as a fighting unit of an army, the armor having openings for observation purposes and for guns and as the armor must necessarily form the outer part of the car or ve hicle, the interior of the car or vehicle may be designed for various purposes.

My invention will be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed, and reference will now be had to the drawing, where- 1n- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an armored vehicle, partly broken away and partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the same; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of the armor.

The armor comprises a fixed wall 1 and connected to said wall are a plurality of bolts or guides 2. Loose on these bolts 01' guides is an outer yieldable wall 3 having openings .4 for the outer ends of the bolts or guides and the outward movement of said wall is limited by the heads of said bolts or guides.

Interposed between the fixed and movable walls 1 and 3 are a plurality of coiled compression springs 5 and these springs maintain the outer wall 3 normally in engagement with the heads of the bolts or guides 2, but permit of said outer wall yielding or IDOVlIlg inwardly relatively to the fixed wall 1. The springs 5 are vclosely assembled and the imier convolutions thereof are fitted over bosses 6 carried by the outer face of the wall-1, while the outer convolutions of said springs re ceive the shank portions 7 of buffers 8 interposed between the outer ends of the springs and theouter movable wall 3. The bufi'ers 8 are preferably made of rubber and cooperate with the springs 5 in cushioning the outer movable wall 3 relatively to the inner wall 1.

Connecting intermediate convolutions of the springs are rods or springs 9, constituting coupling members, which cause a plu-' rality of springs to coiiperate in cushioning an inward movement of the outer movable wall 3 when struck by a projectile or other object.

Considering the armor in connection with a vehicle, the armor may be made in sections suitably connected together so as to provide protecting walls or an armor about the chassis of a motor driven vehicle. As such, it has been illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the chassis 10 has individual axles 11 for thewheels 12 of the vehicle, said individual axles being'provided with springs 13 for supporting U-shaped body frames 14.

At the forward end of the chassis 10 is a conventional form of power plant 15, and this power plant includes all those necessary appurtenances, such as a fuel supply system, a cooling system, ignition system, and transmission and steering mechanisms, so the vehicle may be easily operated. The design of the body frames 14 is such as to support side walls, front and rear walls, and a top wall or roof, all of which are made of armor, such as shown in Fig. 3. It is preferable to have a portion of the front wall 1nclined,as shown in Fig. 1, and provided with observation openings 15* with the o enmgs of the outer movable wall adapte to be closed by closures 16; The front wall also has air inlet openings for the radiator of the-power plant 15, and the rear wall has a suitable door- 17 so that soldiers or persons may enter the vehicle. -When the vehicle is used as a fighting unit, the armored walls thereof may be provided with openings 18 which will permit of guns within or proj ecting from the openings being operated by the occupants of the vehicle.

It is thought thatthe utility of my invenapparent Without further description, and While in the drawing there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements are su ceptible to such variations and modix ficati ns as fall Within the scope of the appended claim.

-What I claim is An armor comprising a fixed inner wall, cylindrical bosses carried thereby, an outer movable wall, bufiers on the inner face of said wall having shanks in the axes of said cylindrical bosses, coiled compression springs having the inner convolutions sur-- rounding said bosses and engaging said inner, wall and the outer convolutions bearing against said buffers and surrounding the shanks thereof, resilient coupling members connect ng the lntermediate convolutions of said springs and independent of Walls, and

. In testimony Whereoj I aflix my signaturein the-presence of two Witnesses. e JOHN E. MAKRENOS.

Witnesses:

' KARL H. BUTLER, ANNA M. Donn. 

